Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Leaving Antonio, Moritz asked Winters for no reason: "Do you know [the judgment of Solomon]?"

"The mysterious case of splitting the child in half?" Although Winters didn't understand what the lieutenant colonel wanted to say, he still answered seriously: "I think I have seen the mural."

"A mother who doesn't love her child agrees to split her child in half, and a mother who loves her child deeply would rather give her child to someone else." Moritz showed an older man's attitude in front of Winters for the first time, and he said with emotion : "But you should know how sad it will be when the latter lets go."

In the end, Antonio Serbetti did not force Winters to return to Veneta with him as his father.

On the contrary, he made no demands.

As if he fully understood Winters' inner struggle, Antonio chose not to let Winters face a "choose one" choice.

He simply told Winters that Veneta "might" intervene in the Plato Civil War.

Because of the arrival of his adoptive father, Winters finally got rid of the invisible information blockade in Tiefeng County and was able to understand the major developments of the alliance:

In the past year, the confrontation between Veneta and the United Provinces in the archipelago has gradually cooled down, as both sides have built forts, built forts, and carried out large-scale construction projects.

Nowadays, whether it is the United Provinces or Veneta, if you want to completely drive your opponent out of the archipelago, you must gnaw on one hard bone after another.

This phenomenon is almost a replica of the late period of the Sovereignty War. The old marshal once specially created a military term to describe it - [fortification].

As a result of Tanilia's rapid "fortressization", the cost of achieving a military breakthrough in the archipelago has skyrocketed, even to the point that neither side can afford it.

Since it is difficult to achieve anything in the archipelago, opening up new battlefields to put pressure on the United Provinces has become the mainstream idea within the Veneta Directorate.

The river will eventually reach the sea, and Veneta and the United Provinces are wrestling with each other, with hands everywhere:

Islands and inland seas - this is the current focus of contention between the two sides;

Far Sea Trade Routes and Colonies - Combating the overseas trade of the United Provinces seems to be a good way to exert pressure. But the results are too slow, and the interests of both parties overseas are largely both prosperous and mutually destructive.

There is another place that is more dangerous, where the two sides are "head to head" - the rushing river.

The Running River is the boundary river between the two countries. The Fourth [Feleng Cui] Legion of Veneta is currently facing off with the Second [Running River] Legion of the United Provinces across the river.

Sending more troops to Runliuhe can directly put pressure on the mainland of the United Provinces, but once the guns go off, it means that Veneta and the United Provinces will completely break up and start an all-out war.

And this... is what the Directory government least wants to see.

"What on earth is the Grand Archon doing?" Winters couldn't help complaining: "He didn't want to fight, so he rolled up his sleeves. When he really wanted to roll up his sleeves, he hesitated. This... this is not the same as using gunpowder. Is the Treasury holding a candlelight dance?"

Antonio looked out the window: "Some people prepare weapons in order to use them, and some people prepare weapons in order not to use them."

"What do you think?" Winters asked cautiously: "Is Veneta and the United Provinces bound to have a war in the end?"

"We are weapons." Antonio said lightly: "Weapons try not to think."

Winters wanted to retort, but he said "Oh" out of nowhere.

"But if it can be resolved peacefully, it is better not to fight." Antonio sighed: "There are also voices within the alliance calling for cooling down and peace. In a few months, it will be Wine's turn to host the [United Nations General Assembly], Grand Consul Debella and the Secretary of State of the United Provinces will be present at that time..."

The United Nations General Assembly, the abbreviation of the Alliance Congress, is held every four years by each member country in turn.

There was a glimmer of light in Antonio's pupils: "If everyone has the opportunity to sit down and talk, maybe everything can be resolved peacefully - that would be the best."

All in all, the only suitable starting point for Veneta to exert its strength without directly conflicting with the United Provinces is the Plato Civil War.

And Veneta had a good reason to intervene in the Plato civil war: a debt default.

Even the debt default is just a symptom. The core problem is: Veneta's ruling parliament is absolutely unwilling to see the emergence of a pro-United Province Palatine government.

"How far is Vinetta prepared to interfere?" Winters asked.

"It depends," Antonio answered.

"Depends on the situation? This is too ambiguous."

"It depends on the situation." Antonio told Winters without hesitation: "Actually, the Five are still waiting for next year's UN General Assembly. Debella wants to talk first and then make a decision. In my opinion , the same is true in the United Provinces, even the smell of gunpowder in Tanilia has been diluted a lot."

"Then do you think the General Assembly... can achieve anything?"

"I don't know." Antonio replied simply, and he shook his head: "Forget it, there's no need to talk about this now. Let's talk about your business."

Winters' heart tightened.

"If Veneta interferes in the Plato Civil War." Antonio analyzed the pros and cons for Winters: "Then the Third Republic will be Veneta's ally. You can hand over Tiefeng County to the Plato Army. Government takeover. This is not about abandoning the people who trust you - you can negotiate with the Third Republic to get the best conditions for Tiefeng County."

Winters already had a rough idea of ​​what his adoptive father was going to say.

"In Plato, being a Veneta person will sooner or later become your shackles, but in Veneta it's just the opposite." Antonio explained patiently: "This will be the best opportunity to 'let go'."

The sparkling sea, the bustling dock, his childhood room, the aroma wafting from the kitchen, the cat scratching the door in the middle of the night... these all appeared in Winters' dreams.

Doesn't he miss them?

Of course he missed them!

The longer I live in the land of galloping horses, the stronger my memories of aquamarine, the gem of the sea, become.

Winters shook his head: "Please let me think about it again."

"This matter is not urgent. There is plenty of time to think about it." Antonio put his hand on Winters' shoulder: "Listen, kid..."

Antonio looked into Winters' eyes and said word for word: "Home is a place you can go back to at any time."

Winters lowered his head.

"Don't think about anything, don't worry about anything." Antonio said again: "You can go home at any time."

"You can go home anytime." Somehow, Winters' psychological defense was almost shattered by these simple words.

Silence, a long silence.

"Don't cry." Antonio let go of his hand and joked: "A man can't shed tears casually."

Winters tried his best to change the subject: "It's better not to talk about me... I find it incredible that you came to Plato. What about the Third Army?"

"Don't worry, even without me, there won't be any trouble in [Big Veneta]."

"I still...can't accept it..." Winters' language skills became a little clumsy: "In my impression, you should stick to your post forever..."

"Originally it wasn't me, but besides me, who else can take you back?" Antonio seemed to convince himself: "A good man has his ambitions in all directions, and a good man has his ambitions in all directions."

If it was Winters two years ago, he probably wouldn't have felt anything.

But at this moment, Winters keenly caught a trace of something strange, and he still couldn't sort out a smooth link in the logical chain: why his adoptive father came to Tiefeng County.

In Winters' memory and knowledge, his adoptive father had never abandoned his official career for personal reasons.

Just to find him, leaving the Grand Veneta Legion in Tanilia?

Winters felt that this was both reasonable and unreasonable.

Unless—unless the adoptive father has other missions. In other words, this is not a simple "journey to find a son", nor is it a personal affair.

If so, everything would make sense!

"Come to Plato..." Winters was in a complicated mood and asked tentatively: "Uh, is there anything else?"

"If I want to say something, there is one more little thing." Antonio replied lightly.

"What?" Winters' mood became more complicated.

"Military horse."

"ah?"

"The Third Army needs military horses, a lot of military horses."

"Army horses?" Winters asked suspiciously, "Do you still need to come in person for such a small matter?"

"After the start of the Plato Civil War, Veneta's channels for obtaining war horses were completely cut off." Antonio was not prepared to talk about the matter. He directly asked Winters: "How many war horses do you have now?"

Winters originally wanted to explain that most of the horses kept in Tiefeng County were captured Hede horses, which were different from the general Plato military horses.

Moreover, the army and horses cannot directly travel from the high-altitude Palato all the way to the low-altitude Veneta, and the transfer process is very troublesome.

But Antonio certainly knows more about these issues than Winters.

So Winters sighed, gritted his teeth and asked, "How many do you need?"

Antonio smiled half-heartedly: "Three thousand."

The three thousand horses are not draft horses or draft horses for pulling carts, but military horses that can be ridden in battle.

Adding up all the war horses of the Veneta Army, including the personal war horses of officers at all levels, there are probably only so many.

After all, Veneta and Plato have very different natural endowments. Plato could easily arm fifty cavalry squadrons, while Veneta only had two cavalry brigades in total, one each for the third and fourth legions.

Winters wanted to shout, "Three thousand horses? Where can I find you three thousand horses? Three thousand? I'd better go back to Veneta with you! Three thousand? Why do you need so many horses?" Can Tanilia’s island be expanded?”

In the end, Winters suppressed his emotions.

He blushed, plucked up the courage, and asked, "Then... how much money can you offer?"

…

The end of the war allowed traffic within and outside Tiefeng County to gradually return to normal, and many people who had not been able to meet because of the war were finally able to meet each other.

For example, Winters and Antonio.

and, Father Carman and the mysterious Father Saul.

After Winters began to clean up Tiefeng County, the Pangtuo River fording field was reopened, and a small group of militiamen escorted Father Saul to Shengke Town.

Father Carman took the initiative to apply to Bud: let him identify Father Saul's identity.

The meeting took place in the chapel of the church in Sankt. There was no one in the chapel except Carman and Saul. Carman did not even allow anyone else to enter the next room.

But even if someone was leaning on the door and eavesdropping, they wouldn't hear anything.

Because Kaman and Saul were using sign language.

The light shone in slantingly from the small window. Under the gaze of the Virgin, Carman and Saul communicated silently.

With just a few simple actions, Kaman had verified Saul's identity.

"I've heard about you, Brother Saul." Kaman's attitude was very respectful, which was very different from the impatience faced by Winters.

"When I entered the wilderness, there were still stone piles of Hittites." Saul looked at the icon: "Please contact the brothers of the [Renovation Order] for me."

"There is something I have to tell you." Kaman looked strange. He cleared his throat and spoke, because the following content could not be expressed in sign language: "[Renovation Order] no longer exists. "

Kaman expected Saul to be shocked, cry, or even have an emotional breakdown.

But the old man who had been a slave for decades seemed to have no feeling at all. His voice was hoarse, even a little difficult to pronounce, but very calm: "Excuse me, what's wrong?"

Kaman licked his lips and subconsciously held the Holy Emblem with his left hand. He spoke as slowly as possible: "Thirty years ago, the then Pope Pius V ruled that the Reformed Order was a heretical order."

"The Reformation Order has been banned." Kaman did not even dare to look directly at the old man: "All the dead and living monks of the Reformation Order...have been excommunicated."

[Force majeure (heavy rainstorm), I am on duty on weekends, and the jet lag has not returned yet. I owe you a chapter for now]

[Heresy and all that, I like it the most]

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